City: scottsdale | ArchDaily

The Loft at Taliesin West / Taylor Bode

Pilar Caballero — Sun, 26 Jun 2022 11:00:00 +0000

Carrying on the tradition of student-built desert shelters at Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West, 'The Loft' was designed, constructed, and inhabited as a final year thesis project at The School of Architecture at Taliesin. The thesis explored concepts of functional and aesthetic adaptability, the psychology of user control, and the idea of anticipatory architecture as a spatial framework that supports a built environment in a constant state of change.

Boulders House / The Ranch Mine

Bianca Valentina Roșescu — Sun, 06 Mar 2022 15:00:00 +0000

Sitting in the afternoon shadow of Lone Mountain in Scottsdale, sits the Boulders residence, a new 2400 square foot home designed by Phoenix-based architecture firm The Ranch Mine. The property is located in the Sonoran Desert on the northern edge of Scottsdale, an area with unique geology highlighted by extremely large, 12 million-year-old boulders.

Desert Courtyard House / Wendell Burnette Architects

Daniel Sánchez — Sat, 15 Jun 2019 15:00:00 +0000

The site is a peninsula of granite outcroppings and towering Saguaro cacti surrounded on all sides by deep perennial desert washes except for a single spit of land affording access from an Ocotillo studded ridge above. The building site, further down a long private drive, levels out toward the west into an edge condition dominated by an expansive vista - layers and layers of distant mountain ranges - that in the evening seem to epitomize the drama of the Arizona Sunset. Due to the elevation of the site beneath the community’s gaze and the entry gate at the road it became important to us - to recede the house as a deep shadow - into the depth and complexity of the desert floor below.

Troon Modern Residence / Kendle Design Collaborative

Daniel Tapia — Thu, 04 Apr 2019 17:00:00 +0000

A bold yet minimal residence in Troon North contrasts against the organic softness of the desert floor and rising Pinnacle Peak Heights to the east. The geometric layout of the planters and sharp edges of block walls, accented with dark metal slots and apertures, stand against the backdrop of the mountain and desert brush.

Safari Drive Condominiums / The Miller Hull Partnership

Daniel Tapia — Fri, 29 Mar 2019 17:00:00 +0000

The design concept for these suburban condominiums evolved from the desire to create a vibrant, mixed-use neighborhood in a physically demanding desert climate. Within its own bounds, the development is self-sustaining with a range of live/work lofts and retail spaces situated on the Scottsdale canal. As opposed to typical large-scale residential buildings, a grouping of smaller structures not usually seen in this type of development modulates scale to a human level.

Birds Nest / Kendle Design Collaborative

Pilar Caballero — Wed, 21 Nov 2018 16:00:00 +0000

The Birds Nest Residence is characterized by strong geometric forms and materials reminiscent of mid-century modern architecture with influences from Richard Neutra and noted Arizona architect Al Beadle. The guiding principles of the modern masters are evident in the building's clean simplicity and sophisticated integration into the site.

Fervor Creative / debartolo architects

Pilar Caballero — Tue, 07 Aug 2018 19:00:00 +0000

Transforming their workplace, Fervor Creative has initiated a new model of workplace performance - one that favors flexibility, daylight and openness. The Scottsdale, Arizona creative advertising firm engaged debartolo architects to rethink and reimagine their work space and design a new environment on the footprint of their existing building. Collaborating with The Construction Zone, a Phoenix based team of builders with an architectural education, debartolo led the effort in conceptualizing a two-level, light-filled box that brings together all of the creative office needs within a language of simplicity and restraint.

Desert Wing / Kendle Design Collaborative

Daniel Tapia — Sun, 01 Jul 2018 13:00:00 +0000

Programmatically the home is split into two zones, one a 4300 sqft. residence for the owners, a couple requiring a very low maintenance lifestyle, and another zone for their extensive family and friends who visit the Arizona sunshine often. While much of the surrounding homes echo themes from distant European cultures of centuries past this home speaks to its specific place in the Sonoran Desert.

Atalaya Shelter / Jaime Inostroza

Rayen Sagredo — Wed, 10 May 2017 13:00:00 +0000

To Dwell in the Shadow of the Trees of the Sonora Desert

STAAB Residence / Chen + Suchart Studio LLC

Cristian Aguilar — Wed, 28 May 2014 00:00:00 +0000

The context for this site consists of larger homes on one-acre lots. Aesthetically, the neighboring houses’ architectural language is more often than not, associated with speculative developer trends and styles, rather than an integrated understanding of the site, the views, and other opportunities. As a result, the project required a strategy which would edit out the immediate context of this neighborhood while focusing on distant views of the McDowell Mountains to the north and the valley to the south and southwest. The project also sought to create a protected courtyard space for the backyard and pool area as an immediate focus for the lower level of the house in contrast to the second level taking advantage of the more distant views.

Bicycle Haüs / debartolo architects

Karen Valenzuela — Fri, 21 Mar 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Desert Wing / Kendle Design

Fernanda Castro — Thu, 22 Aug 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Paolo Soleri: Mesa City to Arcosanti

Karissa Rosenfield — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0000

In 2010, SMoCA initiated a series of three exhibitions exploring the trajectory of Paolo Soleri's art, architecture and philosophy. Paolo Soleri: Mesa City to Arcosanti is the second in the series. This exhibition begins in the early 1960s when Soleri shifted his focus from bridges and residences to large-scale urban planning based on environmental accountability. Soleri's first comprehensive vision of a community is Mesa City, an example of what he calls an “arcology,” or an architectural project based on the synthesis of architecture + ecology. In Mesa City, Soleri combines the goals of high-density living, a vibrant urban space, respect for natural resources and a commercial sector based upon creativity. The exhibition will end with Arcosonti (arcology + Cosanti), a project built in the 1970s near Mayer, Arizona.

Essence of the Desert House / AU Design Studio

Oscar Lopez — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Amit Upadhye of AU Design Studio designed a house in the desert, capturing the essence of the native climate to create a dwelling sensitive to the phenomenological aspects of living within the desert. Memories and visions of boulders and shadows in the desert were borrowed in the formation of the project. It was through these borrowed moments of the desert that brought the concepts of micro-climates and desert living to the Essence of the Desert House. Through these observed micro-climates in the desert it was visible that life thrived, even within the harshest environments. These micro-climates act as heat sinks and as thermal masses. The Native Americans were aware of this phenomenon, often building homes in the shadows of such boulders. It is through this challenging and yet engaging nature of the Sonoran Desert that allows for meaningful and poetic dialogue between place and built environment, creating opportunities for natural phenomena to be translated into meaningful architecture rooted in the nature and essence of the desert.

The Brown Residence / Lake|Flato Architects

Jules Gianakos — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Henkel North American Consumer Products Headquarters / will bruder+PARTNERS

Christopher Henry — Sat, 28 May 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Sited on a compact sub-5 acre parcel in a developing urban area of Scottsdale, Arizona, the new Dial/Henkel headquarters will be an innovative collaborative center, completely integrated into its broader context of the Sonoran desert. The building is conceived as a crystalline cloud floating over a desert mesa, a graceful presence at the prominent intersection of Scottsdale Road and the 101 freeway. The four story structure is comprised of two levels of glass curtain wall, environmentally shaded by a double ceramic frit, above two levels clad in aluminum panels, deeply textured plaster, and native Ashfork sandstone.

Black Rock Studio / Weddle Gilmore Black Studio

Christopher Henry — Mon, 16 May 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Black Rock Studio is a 3,150 sqf loft/studio which houses an entry courtyard, gallery, and meeting space on the ground floor with studio/work spaces on the second level. Black Rock Studio creates a dynamic relationship between building and the streetscape on the south and the canal on the north. The transparency of the north and south façade through large sliding glass doors create strong links between the studio and the canal to the public way. The loft/studio space transforms over the course of the day as the daylight moves and washes down the side walls of the space. Slot skylights run the length of the studio creating a floating ceiling effect and contributing to the balanced day-lighting.

The Gateway to the McDowell Sonoran Preserve / Weddle Gilmore Black Rock Studio

Christopher Henry — Tue, 10 May 2011 00:00:00 +0000

The design of the Gateway has been developed in an effort to minimize impact on the native Sonoran Desert environment while celebrating a sense of entry and passage into the 36,400 acre McDowell Sonoran Preserve. Preservation of native desert habitat is one of the most important environmental issues with continued growth and expansion of the Phoenix Metro area. Preserving nearby open space, and providing easy access and connectivity were guiding principles in the design and development of the Gateway to the McDowell Sonoran Preserve. From the Gateway, hikers, mountain bikers, and equestrians can access a network of over 45 miles of trails within the McDowell Sonoran Preserve. The Gateway is the location individuals regardless of their physical condition or hiking capability can go to explore and experience the magic of the Sonoran Desert.